The energetic little griffin spit out its small pink tongue again, sputtering.
"~Yiyiyi~."
The little one seemed so happy, hopping around in Ailsa's arms as she flapped her little wings.
This time, however, Little Gem managed to catch air, lifting herself up with her relentless flapping.
Ailsa smiled lightly, letting the little griffin struggle up. She felt like a mother bird watching on as her child grew up for the first time.
Though she hadn't said much, Little Gem's sickly appearance had impacted her greatly. The little one hadn't been in their lives for very long, but who could watch on as a baby struggled so much just to hold onto their lives?
The world was a cruel place, but when the harsh reality wasn't placed right before you, it was too easy to ignore. However, when it was, it hung onto one's heart, pulling at its strings with weights of guilt.
Ailsa had been racking her brain endlessly, trying to find a solution to help Little Gem. And luckily… They had finally found one.
"This is excellent." Ailsa smiled as Little Gem flopped back down into her arms. It seemed the little one was already puckered out.
Little Gem yawned, squeezing herself a place on Ailsa's ample chest and closing her large, blinking eyes.
Ailsa looked up to Ryu.
"Leave the rest to me, right now, it's too inefficient. I'll have to design a few things around the use of your Chaos Qi now that I know its usefulness…"
Aina's voice trailed off as she began to mumble about things far too complex for Ryu to understand. It wasn't because he wasn't smart enough, but rather because his range of expertise didn't overlap well with Aina's.
Her words seemed to encompass everything from exercise routines to massage sequences and even ending in the formation of new cultivation methods.
Maybe it was only after hearing such things that Ryu truly understood how monstrous Cultus Faeries were. Or rather, this was just the first time he deemed to look into Ailsa's mind to get just a faint inkling of how she usually prepared things for him.
Such a reality made him sigh. It seemed he owed this Life Partner of his much more than he knew.
Ailsa lay the little one to rest.
"Alright you. Time for your massage."
"Right." Ryu nodded, waking himself from his thoughts.
It wasn't long before Ryu had been stripped and Ailsa began to slowly knead his muscles, directing a very controlled stream of energy.
Completely out of Ryu's control, a certain member of his stood at attention, causing Ailsa to giggle at his expense.
"…" Ryu really didn't know how to react to such a thing. He could only change the subject and try to ignore the obviously misbehaving part of his body. "You said that there were changes to the Moon World?"
"Yes." Ailsa replied seriously. "The evolution of your Heavenly Pupils caused a massive shift in Fate. They're all scrambling trying to take advantage of things now. The biggest change is that the opening of the Tri Palace has been moved up considerably. Everyone is scrambling trying to find you…"
Ryu sneered inwardly. "Do they think that I'll give up my key?"
"It's not just that… There's been a change to the rules of the Tri Palace as well. It seems that the way it was designed, it was constructed such that it would react to such a shift in Fate… From my understanding, the Tri Key, rather than allowing the entrance of just a single person as it has done in the past, it will now allow a group of individuals 'recognized' by the key wielder to do so."
Ryu paused for a long while before speaking.
"The Tri Palace is an Immortal Abode that has existed for a very long time. Exploring it is no different from exploring any other Ruin, I'm confident in not losing to anyone in that kind of environment. It doesn't matter how many come, it won't matter."
Ryu, thanks to his Yang Lightning, was already confident in not losing to anyone beneath the Path Extinction Realm in this place, and that was before his sudden boost in strength. Even if he couldn't win, he could definitely protect himself.
Unfortunately, the increase in Ryu's strength hadn't come with a strengthening of his Yang Lightning since he hadn't spent much time on comprehending it. But, with Ryu's evolved Pupils, he was confident in stepping into the Ruler Realm with just a few days of work.
If it wasn't for the fact this was a world of extreme Yin, Ryu would have been confident in succeeding in just a few hours. This was how much confidence he had in his Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils.
Once Ryu succeeded, even Path Extinction Realm experts of this world would have to tread carefully around him.
His gaze became cold, the face of a certain man flashing in his mind.
Zulfiqar.
Ryu would make sure he died a gruesome death.
"Uh –."
Just as Ryu was about to exude a murderous intent, Ailsa pressed a finger into his lower belly, causing a certain member to convulse.
A jet of white shot toward the ceiling with a surprising amount of strength.
Laughing wildly, Ailsa shot out of its range, her giggling filling the Death Worm.
…
"Aw, Little Ryu, don't be mad." Ailsa held onto Ryu's arm, a bright smile on her face.
Ryu's lips remained sealed. But, his cold expression belied a brewing embarrassment in his mind.
"Was that necessary?" He finally mumbled, stepping out of the Death Worm and into the vast snowy landscape of the Moonlight Blossom Sect's territory.
Ailsa giggled. "Of course it was necessary. You needed to release."
Ryu shook his head, but didn't refute.
Ailsa had just simulated dual cultivation for him without the need for the actual act. The reason aphrodisiacs were so potent and why they couldn't be expelled with just an exercise of the hands was because there was an exchange of yin and yang that was necessary.
Obviously, the best way to complete this exchange was via intercourse. But, Ailsa had a method of circumventing this by feeding her yin through a different avenue. Unfortunately, though… the ending was still the same.
"… At least my Little Ryu is healthy."
Ryu sent a glance toward Ailsa, but this only seemed to make her laugh harder.
Soon, though, the looming existence of a massive Sect appeared before them, dwarfing the two.
The Moonlight Blossom Sect was built into the sides of a massive mountain range that rose so high into the sky that the tallest peak felt like an arm's reach from the skies.
It might have been a formation, or maybe an odd natural phenomena, but the Sect itself was under a perpetual shade of darkness. The sun never rose, and the moon never set. In fact, 18 moons of various shades of silver to violet hung in the skies, shining down upon the otherwise dark Sect.
A fog of dark violet seemed to perpetually hang in the air. The pervasion of yin was so great that Ryu's eyes could see howling spirits hanging in the skies.
Many of these spirits were just weak wraiths that could be killed with a single thought. However, in such large numbers, it was almost impossible for one to deal with them all. Ryu could imagine that attacking Moonlight Blossom Sect, even completely disregarding their obvious terrain advantage, would be more than just a small headache.
That said, even though in large numbers these wandering spirits could be a threat, this wasn't their true purpose. Rather… They were here as scouts.
The moment Ryu entered the range of Moonlight Blossom Sect, all the spirits that had been meandering around without a purpose or goal suddenly turned their attention toward him in unison.
If one had never met a spirit before, it was hard to describe exactly the kind of feelings one would undergo when being locked onto in such a fashion. But, if it had to be in just a few words, one could only say that it felt as though all your blood had been swapped out for ice water.
The spirits didn't seem intent on doing anything. They simply stopped floating around, all of their gazes focusing onto Ryu as though he was the only thing of interest in the entire world.
However, from start to finish, Ryu's footsteps never paused. He continued to walk forward unhurriedly, his pace even and his face expressionless.
By that time, though, the true sentries of the Moonlight Blossom Sect had already been alerted. Though Ryu continued to walk, he could sense several auras locking onto him.
…
Within the mountain range of Moonlight Blossom Sect, a familiar person sat in meditation. If Ryu had been there, he would have easily picked him out as the man he wanted to kill the most now, Zulfiqar.
In the instant, Zulfiqar's eyes shot open, a strong sweeping force of yin surging from his body.
When his qi settled down, his lip curled into a sneer.
'So that brat finally couldn't handle the pressure anymore, huh? I'll make you bleed.'